Contents

Overview

The Confederation of the New Free Planets Alliance is a hybrid federal constitutional republic and supranational governing body comprised of thirty-two territories, eighteen colonies, and five other sovereign nations. It is based in the Arzor System, on the third planet of Arzor itself, and also controls seventeen of the surrounding solar systems as well as a substantial presence on the human homeworld of Earth. It is located several thousand light-years from the Sol System, in the Norma Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Alliance also includes some minor outlying self-governing territories, primarily on Earth.

The New Free Planets Alliance was founded in the year 1990 of the Anno Domini calendar (year 884 of the Universal Calendar) by a group of refugees fleeing the collapse of the old Free Planets Alliance. Arriving in a cluster of largely uninhabited worlds, they settled on Arzor and after the Unification War, managed to establish themselves as a sovereign nation. As they began to expand into the stars once more, the other nations of Arzor, especially the nations that had fought alongside the Alliance, joined a unified Alliance government so as to present a united front to outside nations, while still maintaining internal sovereignty. The Alliance Constitution, which governs the Alliance proper, was ratified on February 22, 1991 A.D. (885 U.C.), while the Charter, which governs the Alliance member states, was ratified on January 12, 1991 A.D. (885 U.C.).

With eighteen star systems, a large presence on Earth, and a population of over 28 billion, the Alliance is a large and diverse nation. The primary species of the Alliance proper are Terrans, descended from the refugees of the old Free Planets Alliance, who were themselves descended from human colonists from Earth. These refugees represented a broad cross-section of human ethnicities from every continent and nation of Earth, and created a very diverse population. Rarer in the Alliance itself but much more common in Alliance member states are native Arzorians, who were the native inhabitants of the world. Virtually indistinguishable from Terrans due to the similar evolutionary conditions of Arzor, the Arzorians are themselves a very diverse race, owing to the widely varying conditions of Arzor itself.

A period of peace and prosperity followed the formation of the Alliance, with the member states gaining new technologies and the Alliance itself once again expanding into the stars. The united Arzor flourished in this period of isolation, although it would be abruptly pulled into foreign contact with the start of the Reaper-Omega War, which was the Alliance's first major interstellar conflict. The war was the first major conflict the Free Planets Defense Force participated in, and it soon became a major contributor to victory during the war, providing badly-needed support services as well as battle strength and technology. With the creation of the international space station Haven and the establishment of a permanent Alliance presence aboard the platform, the Alliance became a permanent member of the international community, rising to prominence in many organizations including the United Nations.

Geography & Geographic Divisions

Map of the Planet Arzor.

As an interstellar nation of many systems, the Alliance possesses nearly every imaginable environment throughout its territory. Arzor itself is an Earth-class world, with a similar climate and geographical diversity. The Alliance homeland on Arzor possesses a primarily tropical and subtropical climate, owing to its location on and around the equator. However, certain parts of the homeland stretch far enough north to become a frozen tundra, and is mostly uninhabited. The neighboring nation of the Kirrian Union is a primarily continental and glacial nation, which stretches from the northern area of the Alliance all the way to the north pole of Arzor. It is one of the two smallest major nations on Arzor, along with the United Kingdom of Kyzr. Neighboring Kirria to the west are the United Mazrian States, one of the largest nations on Arzor and a nation that also possesses great climate diversity, due to its wide swath of land stretching from the equator to the north pole. At the edge of the continent, on the Elysium subcontinent is the United Kingdom of Kyzr, one of the smallest nations. It possesses a warm tropical and partially desert climate due to its equatorial proximity and southern location. Located on its own continent unconnected to the other nations is the Svensin League, The Svensin continent covers Arzor's south pole, but stretches almost as far north as the equator in some areas. For climate reasons, the southern area of the Svensin continent is uninhabited, with most people living in the northernmost areas closest to the tropical equator. The semi-independent state of Hellas, in the northern region of Mazria is an observer member of the Alliance, and does not possess voting rights, although it does have the ability to lobby for or against resolutions.

With its advanced technology, the Alliance has dedicated itself to preserving ecological diversity, and has enacted several laws protecting the ecological diversity of the planet, as well as other planets under the Alliance's control. Cities and military installations are designed to have the smallest possible environmental footprint, with underground construction being frequently used for military installation as well as civilian storage.

The Na Pali Coast of the island of Kauai.

On Earth, the Alliance controls a wide swath of territory, with its largest and most populated holdings located in the Pacific Ocean, centered on the Hawaiian archipelago and officially designated as the Pacific Territory. It currently encompasses all US-flagged islands in the Pacific, with the exception of Guam, where the Alliance controls Apra Harbor and a small buffer zone inland while the rest is considered sovereign territory of the Supreme Interstellar Dominiorate of Paraguay. These islands all possess tropical or sub-tropical climates, and many are located on or near the equator. Also in the Pacific is the continent of Muhr, where the Alliance controls the Honuaula Peninsula and its outlying islands, the remains of the former Kingdom of Honuaula. This area is now designated as the Honuaulan Special Administrative Region, and is essentially self-governing. In the Atlantic, the Alliance controls a small portion of the Stornkold archipelago, vacated by the former XIIIth Reich after a major conflict. This area has been resettled and is now known as the Stornkold Special Administrative Region. With the colonization of the continent of Iola in the Indian Ocean, the Alliance now possesses territory in three of the Earth's major oceans, allowing it to project power globally and giving it an intensely varied climate.

The Alliance also currently controls four of the Charanos islands, located in the Pacific near New Zealand. After a colonial rush alongside the Supreme Interstellar Dominiorate of Paraguay to halt the Technocracy of Deathtoforeigners' expansion and conquest of the islands, the Alliance was left with four of the islands, two of which were inhabited. These four islands are still nominally under Alliance control but are not governed or overseen, pending the establishment of a possible coalition government with Paraguay.

History

Government & Elections

The Alliance Senate Complex.

The Alliance is a hybrid federal constitutional republic and supranational governing body. Citizens are represented by elected officials and are regulated in a series of checks and balances determined by the Alliance Constitution. There are three traditional levels of government: federal, state, and local. The local governments govern areas smaller than a territory or colony, such as a city or county, while territorial governments administrate the myriad territories and colonies of the Alliance. The federal government organizes both the Alliance as a whole as well as part of the Alliance's member states as outlined in the Alliance Charter.

The federal government is composed of three main branches:

The Legislative branch is a bicameral legislature composed of the Senate and National Assembly. Each of these two bodies is subdivided into two houses. The Senate represents the Confederation and is responsible for intra-Confederation legislation, as well as approving foreign policy resolutions, such as declarations of war. It is composed of the House of Representatives, based on population, and the House of Councilors, with twenty representatives per nation. The National Assembly represents the Alliance proper, and is composed of the Lower House, also based on population, and the Upper House, with two representatives per-territory plus the sitting territorial executive. The Legislative branch is responsible for passing laws, and also has control of the budget and war declarations, although most other diplomatic functions fall under the jurisdiction of the Executive branch.

The Executive branch is led by the Alliance Quaestor and administrated by the High Council, which serves as a cabinet. The High Council is composed of the heads of the major committees or departments of the Alliance, such as defense, foreign relations, eduction, etc. It is led by the High Council Chairman, who is appointed by the Quaestor and serves as the vice-executive. The Quaestor is vested with the power to veto bills passed by the legislature (although his/her veto can be overridden), appoints federal officers with legislative approval, and administrates the Free Planets Defense Force. During a time of war, he/she is responsible for directing the war effort, although he/she is still subject to legislative oversight and does not have the power to declare war.

The Judicial branch is composed of the Supreme Court as well as lower federal courts. The Supreme Court is a panel of 15 justices led by the Chief Justice who are selected by the Quaestor with legislative approval. The Supreme Court has the power to declare laws unconstitutional or in violation of the Alliance Charter and also arbitrates disputes between Alliance member states if conflicts arise.

Legislative Branch

The Confederate Parliament Complex.

The Legislative branch is divided into two primary parts to service the separate needs of the Alliance and the Confederation. The National Assembly is the legislative body of the Alliance, and is responsible for passing laws that are considered binding on all legal Alliance territories. It cannot, however, pass laws that affect other Confederation members. The Senate is the second house, which covers all Confederation members (including the Alliance) but operates on a supranational level, passing intergovernmental trade agreements and arbitrating on matters of foreign policy for the Confederation as a whole.

The National Assembly is subdivided into two houses, the Lower House and the Upper House. The Lower House seats are apportioned based on population, with the division reassessed every ten years. Currently, there are 576 Representatives from all 50 of the Alliance's constituent territories, plus twelve non-voting observers from the Special Administrative Regions. Representatives serve four-year terms that are staggered so half of the House is up for election every other year. The Upper House is composed of two representatives from each territory plus the sitting executive, for a total of 150 members. Its members serve six-year terms, which are staggered so that one member from each territory's delegation is up for election every other year. All are directly elected by their territories, and it is led by the majority leader in the National Assembly, officially titled the President of the Assembly.

The Assembly has the power to pass direct laws pertaining to the Alliance as a nation, as well as vote to impeach public officials. It has the power to approve or deny the Quaestor's nominations for public office so long as these offices are considered "Alliance only."

The Senate is also subdivided into two houses. The lower house is the House of Representatives, which contains a total of 480 members apportioned based on population. They are divided among the six Confederate nations and are also reapportioned every ten years, although it is offset by five years with the House reapportionment. The House of Councilors is the upper house, composed of 20 representatives from each member nation, for a total of 120 members. Unlike the other three houses, which are strictly elected, some members of the Councilor delegation can be directly appointed by a Confederation member's government, although this is limited to no more than five out of the twenty delegates. Both the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors are elected every four years, and it is led by the internally-elected Senate Speaker.

The Senate is responsible for matters of intergovernmental relations as well as unified foreign policy. It possesses the power to declare war, impeach public officials, and deny nominees for Confederation positions. It can also veto treaties, although it is not required to explicitly approve of them. It can also pass universal rights declarations and legislate on matters that concern the Confederation as a whole, such as the admission of new members. The Parliament is also responsible for crafting the military budget, as the FPDF is a the unified military of all Confederate members, and all members contribute toward its manpower and funding.

Executive Branch

The Quaestor is the head of the executive branch, and is elected via an electoral college system by the entire Confederation. He/she serves a six year term, but may not serve more than two terms. The powers of the Quaestor are similar to that of the US President; he or she is responsible for executing the law, nominating federal officers, as well as command of the Free Planets Defense Force. Somewhat differing from the US President is that the Quaestor has broader foreign policy power as well as more direct control of the military, able to order the deployment of troops for up to two months without a formal declaration of war. The current Quaestor, Chris Ching, was elected in 2008, and will be running for reelection in 2014.

The High Council Chair is the second highest political office in the Confederation. Unlike the Quaestorship, it is not an elected position, and is appointed by the Quaestor. The Chair is responsible for overseeing the High Council, which serves as the cabinet of sorts. The Chair acts as an advisor to the Quaestor and is first in the line of succession. Often, the Chair assumes an international role when the Quaestor is otherwise unavailable. The current Chairwoman is Theodora Nyacha Hera, appointed by Quaestor Ching shortly after taking office and confirmed by the Senate.

The High Council itself is composed of the leaders of the various departments and committees that make up the Federal Government. Some positions are considered "Alliance only" if the department in question only relates to the Alliance, such as the Department of the Interior, while others are Confederate positions, such as Council of Foreign Relations. Some departments are organized with leadership committees, while others are more traditional executive departments with a single leader. The current High Council positions are:

High Council Chair

Chair of the Council of Foreign Relations

Chair of the Defense Committee

Secretary of the Treasury

Attorney General

Secretary of the Interior

Secretary of Agriculture

Secretary of Commerce

Secretary of Labor

Secretary of Health and Welfare

Chair of the Committee on Housing and Urban Development

Secretary of Transportation

Chair of the Committee on Energy

Chair of the Education Council

Secretary of Veterans' Affairs

Director of the Committee on National Security

Other High Council-level officers with representation include:

Chief of Staff to the Quaestor

Director of the Office of Management and Budget

Confederate Trade Representative

Director of the Environmental Development Department

Chief of the Ambassadorial Corps

Chair of the Committee of Economic Advisors

Judicial Branch

The Supreme Court Complex.

The Judicial Branch is led by the 15-member Supreme Court, whose members are nominated by the Quaestor and confirmed by the Parliament. They serve for life or until voluntary retirement. The Supreme Court acts as the highest court of the land and may overturn legislation from both the Parliament and Senate, or any other national government within the Confederation, making it unique in that it possess direct binding power over the Confederation members.

Below the Supreme Court are the national high courts of the Confederation members, and the Federal courts of the Alliance itself. Beneath the Supreme Court within the Alliance are the Federal District Courts of Appeal, which hear appeals to rulings made by lower federal courts, and the Federal District Courts, which is the first level of the federal judicial system above the territorial Supreme Courts.

Parties, Ideology, and Politics

The Alliance operates under a two-party system. High elected positions such as the Quaestor are usually nominated by state or colonial primary elections, with the winner of the majority of the electorate becoming the chosen candidate for the party, although some parties differ. The National Democratic Party is the current majority party, possessing 78 of 150 National Assembly seats and 308 House of Representatives seats. The NDP is a center-left party, with a strong emphasis on social progressivism, libertarianism, and a mixed economy, but also possessing a strong emphasis on national defense and foreign affairs. The Alliance Conservative Party is the other major party, and is currently the minority party of the two-party system. It controls 70 of the remaining National Assembly seats and 261 of the remaining House seats. The ACP is a center-right party, with a strong emphasis on laissez-faire markets and small government, but like the NDP also has a strong emphasis on national defense. The remaining seats in the House and Assembly are filled by independents.

The current Quaestor of the Alliance is a Democrat, despite being a former military officer. He is the third person to hold the position, and was sworn in on January 14th, 2002. He is the first man of partial Polynesian descent to hold the position, as well as the first Asian, as the previous two Quaestors were Caucasian and African, respectively.

The composition of the Parliament is more mixed since it represents a much broader range of people and ideologies. Currently, the United Mazrian States are the largest component of the Diet, as they possess the largest population out of the remaining nations of Arzor. The Svensin League is the next largest, followed by the Kirrian Union and finally the United Kingdom of Kyzr. Seats in the Congress are assigned and not reallocated, and are traditionally represented by a mix of elected representatives and government appointed representatives.

Foreign Relations & Military

A typical Alliance warship.

The NFPA maintains a strong presence in international affairs, and is a member of numerous international organizations. It is currently a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as well as the Chief Justice of the United Coalition of Nations and NATO, a Grand Member of the Technological Pioneers, Space Commander of the New Anti-Axis Powers Alliance, and many other leadership positions. It maintains cordial relations with many countries and maintains dozens of embassies abroad, but does not maintain official diplomatic relations with the Dominion of Zlost or the Dictatorship of Levant Al Asad, due to their continued hostile stance against the Alliance and its allies.

The NFPA enjoys a special relationship with many of the Reaper-Omega War veterans, as well as the United Nations administration. In particular, it maintains close ties to the current permanent security council members, with whom its soldiers have fought many peacekeeping actions. It is also a member of the International Trade Association, the Amazonia Defense Pact, the United Imperan Directorate, and Iron Eagle Defense Works, Inc. In recent times, the Alliance has begun to eschew formalized, standing alliance memberships in favor of mutual partnerships on specific issues, although it maintains its former status in organizations previously joined.

The NFPA contributed $10.5 trillion in international development aid in 2008, which accounted for roughly 1% of its GDP at the time the aid was authorized. Private organizations added an additional $12.1 trillion, making the total Alliance development aid contribution total $22.6 trillion. By 2012, public aid had increased to $27.2 trillion, with an additional $30 trillion in private aid.

The Quaestor is the Commander-in-Chief of the military, and appoints its leaders, the Defense Committee Chairman and the Service Chiefs Council. The Alliance Department of Defense administers the military, formally known as the Free Planets Defense Force, which is divided into branches, including the Ground Force, Star Fleet, and Marine Corps. The Patrol Fleet is administered by the Department of the Interior during times of peace and is transferred to Star Fleet command during times of war. In 2009, the Alliance military had surpassed 5 billion troops, making it a powerful force in international politics. By 2012, it had passed 13 billion. The Department of Defense employs approximately 350 million civilians in a support capacity, excluding independent contractors. Military service is voluntary, although provisions for a draft exist. The draft was last used during the Unification War, but has since been retired in favor of an all-volunteer force. The Alliance can rapidly deploy its forces worldwide thanks to its strong network of allies and fleet of both air and sea transports, as well as across the galaxy thanks to its flotillas of transport ships and Star Fleet escorts. Rather than maintain bases in foreign nations on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, Alliance troops deploy their own bases as needed and generally carry mobile supply and repair equipment with them to keep them supplied in the field, as well as replying on allied supply networks to engage opposing forces.

Total Alliance military spending totaled $70.3 trillion in 2008, and hit $84.1 trillion in 2009, roughly 8% of the Alliance's GDP at the start of the year. The defense budget for 2012 ballooned significantly along with the economy, reaching $213.3 trillion, but maintaining the same GDP proportion. The vast majority of this funding goes toward training and troop compensation to cover the cost of maintaining such a large military force. The development of automated refinement and production facilities has drastically reduced the cost of weapons production in the NFPA, and hence ships and vehicles can be produced for almost no net cost, leaving the FPSF to spend its money on troop compensation and research rather than procurement and maintenance.

Economy

The Alliance has a capitalist mixed economy fueled by abundant natural resources and supported by a well-developed infrastructure and high productivity. It's GDP per capita is $100,000, one of the highest of the known nations. The NFPA's primary exports are industrial machinery, military equipment, communications equipment, and metallic ore, while its primary imports are agricultural products and protected-origin luxury goods. The Alliance is a postindustrial economy with employment focused mainly on the service sector, although it still retains a large amount of heavy industry maintained by highly automated computer networks. The Ostia Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in the NFPA, and is the financial hub of the Alliance.

The effective unemployment rate in the Alliance has remained at 0% for the past 20 years, after falling from the initial 20% that existed shortly after unification. The military is the largest employer in the Alliance itself, employing 5% of the population directly and many more in the reserves and civil defense forces, while government support services are the largest civilian sector. The largest sector in the Alliance member states is mostly finance and industrial production. Workers in the NFPA are some of the most productive and have one of the highest per-hour productivity rates in the known galaxy. Income taxes are relatively higher than many nations but consumption and labor taxes are generally lower.

The overall government budget has been fixed at 20% of total GDP with a requirement to balance the budget over a rolling five-year period, with provisions to waive this clause in emergencies such as war or severe economic depression. Small budget deficits have been run in the past but the Alliance is considered a safe investment and has excellent credit ratings for government-issued bonds and a very low debt-to-GDP ratio.

Income & Human Development

The Alliance economy is a robust post-industrial economy, with most manual labor functions and heavy industry now automated. Owing to its origins as a a fledgling breakaway state, there is no quantifiable gender gap in the workforce, since the early Alliance could not afford to let its women go unemployed, and the easy availability of seamless cybernetics has removed any possible debate as to the physical equality of women in any task. As a result, most households have two sources of income, leading to a higher material standard of living. Inflation has generally not been a problem in the few decades since the Alliance came into being, but the slowing of growth and the settling of the nation into a more sustainable economic model have caused a few market shocks. The Alliance maintains a robust welfare state, funded by federal taxes. It is focused on reducing poverty and providing services to those in need, including medical insurance, although the cost of most forms of care has decreased substantially due to advances in medical science.

Science & Technology

The Alliance has been a leader in technological development since its establishment, and technological exchanges with other nations have greatly enhanced its technology progress. Originally focused heavily on the study of long-range and efficient mass-communication as well as drone and automation technology, exchanges with other nations have broadly diversified the NFPA's technological expertise. Most recently, the discovery of the Zohar in the Armageddon Basin of the Alliance homeland has led to a massive breakthrough in technology. Study of the Zohar has unlocked the realm of the Unus Mundus, which has now become the primary method of FTL travel for Alliance military warships and convoys, as well as the primary centralized data network, replacing the DataNet. The new Unus Mundus Network (UMN) allows for instantaneous long-range communications from anywhere in the galaxy provided both the sender and receiver have access to a UMN transponder. UMN research is government-funded, but most research is done in the private sector, often in partnership with companies in other nations.

The development of advanced medical cybernetics has allowed for a great leap in the quality of life of the average citizen as well as the speed of technological development. Cerebral implants and the widespread adoption of the cyberbrain have made it possible to mate human creativity with a computer's raw processing speed, allowing people to "think" much faster in quantitative subjects than before. After nearly a year of public debate, sentient AIs were reclassified as legal citizens, with all rights and entitlements. In fact, the development of full-body prosthetics has made it nearly impossible to tell whether one is an AI or not, since a "smart" AI is fully capable of operating a physical body in the same manner as a human. These implants and cybernetics, along with easily available public access terminals and basic home installations mean that access to the UMN is universal, allowing for one of the most interconnected societies in the galaxy.

Transportation

An Alliance maglev train.

Despite the advent of FTL travel and the limited usage of transporter technology, wheeled and rail vehicles still often dominate the transporation scheme of many cities. Individual cars are often unneeded within a city due to a well-developed mass-transit system, composed of rail lines, bus/auto-taxi systems, and public bicycles. Vehicles within a city are managed by a central mainframe to ensure a smooth flow of traffic, dramatically increasing efficiency and removing the long lines of traffic that are associated with many urban areas. Outside of the cities in more rural areas it is common for drivers to manually pilot their vehicles, as efficiency is less of an issue in such areas. Within a city, vehicles run on broadcast power from the city's central reactors or power grid, which centralizes all power needs and removes the need for any waste generation by the car itself. However, for offroad and out-of-city use nearly all vehicles possess clean ultracompact fusion reactors for onboard power generation.

Major airports and spaceports are generally publicly owned and operated, while the transportation industry is privatized. Air travel is popular in many of the Alliance's colony worlds that lack a global or large-scale rail system, but even on worlds that possess such a system, air travel remains used as it is often faster when traveling to other sides of the planet. A network of civilian transport starships allow for interstellar travel, with space routes and systems protected by the Patrol Fleet arm of the FPDF, and spaceports are common on every NFPA colony world. A network of large space stations supporting populations in the millions also exists throughout Alliance space that is also served by this network. Civilian ships generally use subspace warp engines for travel, while military, government, and special high-end civilian ships utilize UMN gate interfaces in conjunction with subspace warp drives for greater speed.
Use of matter transporter technology has been increasing, although the official policy of the Alliance government is to discourage their use unless necessary, as they are much less energy efficient than more traditional forms of transportation.

Energy

As a scientifically-advanced post-industrial nation, NFPA citizens consume massive amounts of energy. Technology has advanced to the point where energy generation can be achieved without pollution and through the use of renewable fuels, making energy availability limited only by the speed new power plants can be built and the availability of financial capital. The most common source of power on the civilian market is fusion power, which powers not only residences, commercial structures, and factories, but also individual vehicles via built-in ultracompact fusion reactors. Solar energy is also common in many cities, with panels incorporated into buildings and also harvested via ultra-thin photovoltaic netting that can be applied within the transparent aluminum facade of any building. The Alliance homeworld of Arzor is in fact powered almost entirely by solar energy provided by a massive orbital ring of solar collectors first designed by the native Arzorians and completed with Alliance help. For civilian starships, matter-antimatter reactors are more common, as the vastness of space allows for sufficient safety measures for antimatter storage, and requires the greater output of a matter-antimatter reactor to power faster-than-light drives. The UPT-designed antilead fullerene reactor design is rapidly becoming the most common design of matter-antimatter reactor, owing to its much more robust safety features.

Demographics

The current Alliance population has surpassed 26.5 billion, after growing from an initial 50 million following the close of the Unification Wars. Starting with an extremely high growth rate of 10%, fueled largely by government-sponsored child-rearing campaigns and massive immigration, the Alliance's growth rate has declined to a more sustainable 0.1%, the norm for developed nations. Much of the growth was from the absorption of former Aktin citizens in the newly-claimed Alliance territory, as well as the Earth territories. The average growth rate for most of the Alliance's existence was 2% annually, until the nation reached a total population of 10 billion, whereupon growth began to slow. The greatest sources of both immigration and emigration are the members of the Confederation, both on Earth and Arzor, which provided much of the Alliance's early population.

The population is extremely diverse, due in large part to the 1600 years of space-based traveling that preceded the founding of the Alliance. In those 1600 years, humanity took to space, and colonial populations were too small to allow for separate ethnic groups and communities. Eventually, multi-ethnic Terrans became the norm, although vestiges of ethnic purity still exist in some areas, and culture has remained distinct based on geographical region rather than genetic history. The influx of Earth immigrants has begun to steadily shift the demographics as many Earth humans still retain pure ethnic histories.